How Americans Became Vulnerable to Russian Disinformation

Social media moguls' disregard for facts may have facilitated Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election. But Russia's success in peddling bogus news via Twitter and Facebook exposed more fundamental problems: a poorly educated electorate and a news industry that has become concentrated in ever-fewer hands.

ATLANTA – As the United States marks the first anniversary of President Donald Trump’s election, the question of how Trump won still commands attention, with Russia’s role moving increasingly to center stage. Each new revelation in the investigation of Russia’s meddling in the 2016 campaign brings the vulnerability of the US democratic process into sharper focus.

Last week, Congress unveiled legislation that would force Facebook, Google, and other social media giants to disclose who buys online advertising, thereby closing a loophole that Russia exploited during the election. But making amends through technical fixes and public promises to be better corporate citizens will solve only the most publicized problem.

The tougher challenge will be strengthening institutions that are vital to the functioning of democracy – specifically, civics education and local journalism. Until gains are made in these areas, the threat to America’s democratic process will grow, resurfacing every time the country votes.

There's a slight "blame the victim" aftertaste to this earnest comment. Consider as an alternative the possible structural culpability of 'public' corporations. They not only have an infinite, indiscriminate and loyalty-free appetite for privatizing profit and socializing costs. They also turn members of the global intelligentsia, through the intelligentsia's concentrated ownership of financial assets, into their passive, paralyzed, in-denial accomplices. More to the point, some of those public corporations are media companies. Trump owes his election as much to actively self-enriching help from the corporate Fourth Estate (and not merely from that segment controlled by a certain amoral news mogul from Australia) as to the real and regrettable failures of American education to teach and American journalism to inform.

The questions on "the three branches" may provide misinformative results.

For example, if they know that the president has a veto, that the Supreme Court can strike down many things (with some time- and context-specific awareness of when this may be done), and that many things need to go through both the Senate and House of Representatives (and not just one of them) in order to become law, then they may well have better knowledge than many people who can explicitly name "the three branches" of the legislative house, the highest court and the executive as named in high school civics.

Maybe not. But maybe. A well-designed survey question or two could probably tease this out easily.

For a country that has probably interfered more in virtually every other country on the planet for the past 50+ years to maintain their geopolitical and economic hegemony, I find the neurosis displayed by some Americans about 'possible' interference in their politics hypocrisy in the extreme. Americans should probably be more concerned with their own political class and their ongoing criminal behaviour, both domestically and internationally, that undermines their 'representative' democracy than a few 'possible' Facebook ads and Twitter comments.

Kent Harrington says Russia's endeavour to spread fake news and propaganda ahead of last year's election would not have paid off, had the US not had a "poorly educated electorate susceptible to manipulation." Indeed, education has become the greatest divide of all – splitting voters into two increasingly hostile camps. Yet often it is not just a clash between the ignorant and the enlightened. Race, gender and social belongingness play an equally crucial role. Since Trump's election the intelligence community has been revealing the extent of Russian meddling with the help of the "world’s marquee names" like Facebook, Google, Twitter etc. On some of these media platforms Russia had bought ads for a small amount of money, that may have reached as many as 120 million netizens. Given the low costs involved, the Kremlin had reaped a heavy harvest, exploiting mechanisms that "maximize clicks, shares, and likes,” as well as sophisticated algorithms. The other problem is - what the author sees as - the "erosion of civics education in schools, the shuttering of local newspapers – and the consequent decline in the public’s understanding of issues and the political process – conspire to create fertile ground for the sowing of disinformation." He gives a staggering number of Americans, who have absolutely no idea about how their country is being structured and governed. That politics has turned into a contest between ignorance and knowledge is confirmed by the number of "gullible" voters who fall for "bogus news or inflammatory disinformation." Changes in the news industry pose also a threat to in-depth journalism as advertising revenue that used to keep traditional media outlets afloat, moves to the Internet, enabling social media to "become many people's main source of news." This ushers in a gradual decline of traditional news organisations - with local newspapers "steadily disappearing, shrinking voters’ access to information that is vital to making informed political decisions."Trump's popularity has also to do with the way he taps into the emotions of many Americans, appealing to the basest instincts, instilling fear and - most of all - evoking anger at a certain situation, towards the government etc. Some how a solid education seems no longer relevant to many people, because they fail to realise that knowledge is key to the improvement of professional development, which per se would alleviate poverty. A better standard of living and quality of life do help manage one's anger and frustration. For the good of the population, media outlets need to bear their share of the social responsibility by ditching the corporate mentality, which has driven "small-market newspapers" in rural areas out of business, "concentrating the industry into fewer hands. The result has been layoffs, cost-cutting, and diminished reporting on national and local issues." In the absence of reliable sources, many Americans inform themselves on the Internet, without being able to seprate wheat from chaff. The author says, Russia’s intervention in the 2016 presidential election was "historic, but it was also symptomatic of bigger challenges facing Americans. A population that does not fully understand its own democracy should concern not only civics teachers, but national security experts as well." The neglect at the hands of politicians in the past has come back to haunt the establishment. "The US didn’t need Putin to deliver that lesson." The author quotes Thomas Jefferson: “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free.... it expects what never was and never will be.”Bernie Sanders understands what a difference an affordable, quality education would make. Americans have learned the downsides of commercialisation of education. Now they need to think about their competitiveness on the world market and the future of the coming generations, if the country is to move forward.

Kent Harrington says Russia's endeavour to spread fake news and propaganda ahead of last year's election would not have paid off, had the US not had a "poorly educated electorate susceptible to manipulation." Indeed, education has become the greatest divide of all – splitting voters into two increasingly hostile camps. Yet often it is not just a clash between the ignorant and the enlightened. Race, gender and social belongingness play an equally crucial role. Since Trump's election the intelligence community has been revealing the extent of Russian meddling with the help of the "world’s marquee names" like Facebook, Google, Twitter etc. On some of these media platforms Russia had bought ads for a small amount of money, that may have reached as many as 120 million netizens. Given the low costs involved, the Kremlin had reaped a heavy harvest, exploiting mechanisms that "maximize clicks, shares, and likes,” as well as sophisticated algorithms. The other problem is - what the author sees as - the "erosion of civics education in schools, the shuttering of local newspapers – and the consequent decline in the public’s understanding of issues and the political process – conspire to create fertile ground for the sowing of disinformation." He gives a staggering number of Americans, who have absolutely no idea about how their country is being structured and governed. That politics has turned into a contest between ignorance and knowledge is confirmed by the number of "gullible" voters who fall for "bogus news or inflammatory disinformation." Changes in the news industry pose also a threat to in-depth journalism as advertising revenue that used to keep traditional media outlets afloat, moves to the Internet, enabling social media to "become many people's main source of news." This ushers in a gradual decline of traditional news organisations - with local newspapers "steadily disappearing, shrinking voters’ access to information that is vital to making informed political decisions."Trump's popularity has also to do with the way he taps into the emotions of many Americans, appealing to the basest instincts, instilling fear and - most of all - evoking anger at a certain situation, towards the government etc. Some how a solid education seems no longer relevant to many people, because they fail to realise that knowledge is key to the improvement of professional development, which per se would alleviate poverty. A better standard of living and quality of life do help manage one's anger and frustration. For the good of the population, media outlets need to bear their share of the social responsibility by ditching the corporate mentality, which has driven "small-market newspapers" in rural areas out of business, "concentrating the industry into fewer hands. The result has been layoffs, cost-cutting, and diminished reporting on national and local issues." In the absence of reliable sources, many Americans inform themselves on the Internet, without being able to seprate wheat from chaff. The author says, Russia’s intervention in the 2016 presidential election was "historic, but it was also symptomatic of bigger challenges facing Americans. A population that does not fully understand its own democracy should concern not only civics teachers, but national security experts as well." The neglect at the hands of politicians in the past has come back to haunt the establishment. "The US didn’t need Putin to deliver that lesson." The author quotes Thomas Jefferson: “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free.... it expects what never was and never will be.”Bernie Sanders understands what a difference an affordable, quality education would make. Americans have learned the downsides of commercialisation of education. Now they need to think about their competitiveness on the world market and the future of the coming generations, if the country is to move forward.

Kent Harrington says Russia's endeavour to spread fake news and propaganda ahead of last year's election would not have paid off, had the US not had a "poorly educated electorate susceptible to manipulation." Indeed, education has become the greatest divide of all – splitting voters into two increasingly hostile camps. Yet often it is not just a clash between the ignorant and the enlightened. Race, gender and social belongingness play an equally crucial role. Since Trump's election the intelligence community has been revealing the extent of Russian meddling with the help of the "world’s marquee names" like Facebook, Google, Twitter etc. On some of these media platforms Russia had bought ads for a small amount of money, that may have reached as many as 120 million netizens. Given the low costs involved, the Kremlin had reaped a heavy harvest, exploiting mechanisms that "maximize clicks, shares, and likes,” as well as sophisticated algorithms. The other problem is - what the author sees as - the "erosion of civics education in schools, the shuttering of local newspapers – and the consequent decline in the public’s understanding of issues and the political process – conspire to create fertile ground for the sowing of disinformation." He gives a staggering number of Americans, who have absolutely no idea about how their country is being structured and governed. That politics has turned into a contest between ignorance and knowledge is confirmed by the number of "gullible" voters who fall for "bogus news or inflammatory disinformation." Changes in the news industry pose also a threat to in-depth journalism as advertising revenue that used to keep traditional media outlets afloat, moves to the Internet, enabling social media to "become many people's main source of news." This ushers in a gradual decline of traditional news organisations - with local newspapers "steadily disappearing, shrinking voters’ access to information that is vital to making informed political decisions."Trump's popularity has also to do with the way he taps into the emotions of many Americans, appealing to the basest instincts, instilling fear and - most of all - evoking anger at a certain situation, towards the government etc. Some how a solid education seems no longer relevant to many people, because they fail to realise that knowledge is key to the improvement of professional development, which per se would alleviate poverty. A better standard of living and quality of life do help manage one's anger and frustration. For the good of the population, media outlets need to bear their share of the social responsibility by ditching the corporate mentality, which has driven "small-market newspapers" in rural areas out of business, "concentrating the industry into fewer hands. The result has been layoffs, cost-cutting, and diminished reporting on national and local issues." In the absence of reliable sources, many Americans inform themselves on the Internet, without being able to seprate wheat from chaff. The author says, Russia’s intervention in the 2016 presidential election was "historic, but it was also symptomatic of bigger challenges facing Americans. A population that does not fully understand its own democracy should concern not only civics teachers, but national security experts as well." The neglect at the hands of politicians in the past has come back to haunt the establishment. "The US didn’t need Putin to deliver that lesson." The author quotes Thomas Jefferson: “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free.... it expects what never was and never will be.”Bernie Sanders understands what a difference an affordable, quality education would make. Americans have learned the downsides of commercialisation of education. Now they need to think about their competitiveness on the world market and the future of the coming generations, if the country is to move forward.

It is no wonder there is opportunity for external parties to dabble for globally the online noise is deafening in the lead up to the US elections with pro one side or the other blatantly pushing a storyline only to disappear past election day so it is obviously a paid activity. Contacting the various hosts as to the dubious nature of this event leads to a garbled response about freedom of speech, the cure-all for inaction

New Comment

Pin comment to this paragraph

After posting your comment, you’ll have a ten-minute window to make any edits. Please note that we moderate comments to ensure the conversation remains topically relevant. We appreciate well-informed comments and welcome your criticism and insight. Please be civil and avoid name-calling and ad hominem remarks.

Log in/Register

Please log in or register to continue. Registration is free and requires only your email address.

Log in

Register

Emailrequired

PasswordrequiredRemember me?

Please enter your email address and click on the reset-password button. If your email exists in our system, we'll send you an email with a link to reset your password. Please note that the link will expire twenty-four hours after the email is sent. If you can't find this email, please check your spam folder.